


yet i still keep my fingers crossed

by pawnshophearttradingup



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes
Genre: Birthday, M/M, Nonbinary Summoner | Eclat | Kiran
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-03 19:02:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20457938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pawnshophearttradingup/pseuds/pawnshophearttradingup
Summary: "It’s a surprise. Don’t worry, though, you’ll like it, I promise!” And she had the audacity to give him a wink at that.Alfonse hadn’t been worried before, but he certainly was now that she said that. Sharena was good like that.





	yet i still keep my fingers crossed

**Author's Note:**

> ssssssssliding in at the end of the day with a new fic for alfonse's birthday. that's how it is sometimes
> 
> if you're coming here solely bc it's brufonse, well. the brufonse is just at the end and it's... it's not nonexistent but it's not as overt as some of my other fics? i wouldn't call it implied tho. anyway. this ended up involving sharena a lot more. not that i'm unhappy with that, askr sibs best sibs. also i need to write more stuff w/ nb kiran since it feels like this fandom is lacking in that? @ literally anyone who would maybe listen to me, pls write more nb characters. and more trans characters in general
> 
> shout out to geo, my beta reader, for always helping me make my stuff more presentable. lov u. also shout out to ray chase who i hope doesn't ever read this because i Would perish but he DID decide it was alfonse's birthday today so we all need to thank him for that

Every year, on Alfonse’s birthday, Sharena made sure to be at his room right as the date changed so she could be the very first person to wish him a happy birthday.

It was very sweet of her, and Alfonse appreciated it, except for the fact that he was always asleep before then and would be woken up in the middle of the night by Sharena pounding on his door. He hadn’t even expected it this year, since he’d been so busy with work for the Order of Heroes that he’d completely forgotten his birthday had been fast approaching.

Not that he’d ever admit that to Sharena, of course. She would find it sad, and then Alfonse wouldn’t have a moment of peace to himself for weeks because Sharena would make sure he wasn’t pushing himself too hard. She might have had a point, but still.

Sharena looked wide awake when Alfonse opened the door, smiling wide like nothing was off about what was going on at all and it was just something they did every night.

At least she didn’t have cake with her this year. Last year, she presented Alfonse with a huge slice from a cake that she’d baked herself, despite it being midnight. When Alfonse went to tell her no, she’d pouted at him until he gave in because he couldn’t stand seeing his sister so upset. When he took the plate from Sharena, she’d put a hand on the back of Alfonse’s head and… pushed his face right into the cake.

“Happy birthday, brother!” Sharena said, practically leaping at Alfonse to hug him. He wrapped his arms around her in return, stumbling backwards into his room from the force of her weight. “I have a gift for you! Do you want it now or later?”

“Is it more cake, like last year?” Alfonse deadpanned, pleased with himself when Sharena laughed at the memory.

“Noooo, I could never! … You’d be expecting it now, after all, and then what fun is that?”

Despite himself, Alfonse laughed. “Alright.”

“Alright what?”

“Alright, I’d like my present now.”

Sharena blinked. “I didn’t actually expect you to say yes! It’s not here yet.”

“Then why’d you even ask?” He paused for only a second, then asked the next question to come to mind. “What even is it that it’s not here yet?”

“I thought you’d say no! And it’s a surprise. Don’t worry, though, you’ll like it, I promise!” And she had the audacity to give him a wink at that.

Alfonse hadn’t been worried before, but he certainly was now that she said that. Sharena was good like that.

He would have pressed her a little more to see if he could have gotten any more information out of her, but she had already turned on her heels, waving at him over her shoulder as she ran back to her room. “Okay, bye, Alfonse, happy birthday again!”

What could her gift possibly be that she would avoid telling him anything like that? He supposed he would find out tomorrow. Right now, he wanted to go back to sleep.

Alfonse had overslept.

He was sure that Sharena, or maybe Kiran, had been the cause of that. One, or perhaps both, of them must have decided Alfonse “deserved” to sleep in on his birthday, which was well-meaning enough, except now Alfonse was rushing around trying to get ready because, birthday or not, he still needed to train.

Nobody said anything to him as he made his way to the training tower, which was unusual only because of how normal it was. He’d assumed Sharena would have told everyone it was his birthday, so he would be greeted with a chorus of “happy birthday”s everywhere he went, but nobody seemed to spare a second glance at him.

Kiran waved at him as he entered the room, and Alfonse nodded back at them in acknowledgement.

“Happy birthday,” they said, walking up and clapping him on the back. “I’d give you a present but I couldn’t buy you anything.”

They’d considered it, though? He couldn’t stop himself from smiling at that. “I didn’t expect you to.”

“Yeah, well, I still feel bad about not. I did help with--” they cut themselves off with a yell. “Almost ruined the surprise! Sorry about that! Sharena’d have my head if I spoiled it for you.”

Alfonse raised an eyebrow at that. “So you helped Sharena with her mystery gift for me?”

“Yeahhhhh, probably shouldn’t have said that either, but I won’t tell Sharena if you don’t.”

He was about to question them more, except Commander Anna joined the two of them at that moment, patting Alfonse on the head (and mussing up his hair in the process, which Alfonse only hated because it came across as condescending) and telling him, “Happy birthday, Prince Alfonse, but you’re not getting out of training.”

That was fine, however. After all, Alfonse not only knew that already, but he had no intentions of getting out of it, either.

Training went as fine as ever. Kiran wanted to try out some new team compositions to see who would be most compatible together. In the end, while Kiran hadn’t said anything definitive, they did say there were things they should look into and that training was over for the day before rushing off to do Askr knows what.

Alfonse made to walk out, as well, but then Commander Anna was there, a hand on his shoulder. “Not so fast, Alfonse. I need you to come with me.”

And, well, he couldn’t exactly turn down his commander, could he?

She led him out of the training tower and back towards the main part of the castle. From what Alfonse could gather, he thought she was trying to let him know about her latest plan to earn funding for the Order. It involved some of the more musically-inclined heroes they had in the Order, and a tome that would let Anna record their voices.

It sounded a lot better than her usual schemes, so Alfonse didn’t bother trying to dissuade her from it. (Not that he even really could. He knew what Commander Anna was like.)

She took Alfonse all the way to the Order’s meeting hall. He couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she was about to show him something else, and the plan she was telling him about was her way of misleading him.

She pushed open the door for him, letting him enter in front of her. The room was dark, and he couldn’t quite see who, if anyone, was in there.

Then, as if by magic (which it probably was), the room was bathed in light, and every hero in the Order burst out from where they were hiding, yelling, “Surprise!”

Sharena ran up to him, placing a party hat on his head and then pulling him into a hug much like the one they shared earlier. “Brother, do you like it?”

Alfonse was about to tear up because of it. There weren’t many presents on the table, but Alfonse never cared much for that. He cared more about everyone just being here, and the food spread out across the table (including, of course, a cake that Sharena had baked. He could only hope he wouldn’t end up wearing it this year).

It was wonderful. He needed a second to compose himself because of it. “I love it. Thank you so much, Sharena. Was this your gift for me?”

Sharena took a step back, bouncing on her heels. “Not entirely! There’s one more thing, you have to wait just a little bit longer…” She peered around him, looking out the open doorway.

He couldn’t see anything, but he could hear two pairs of footsteps, and people speaking so quietly he couldn’t make out what either of them were saying.

Kiran entered the room first. Like always, much of their face was hidden by the hood they wore, but Alfonse could clearly see the wide smile on their face.

Next came in…

“Zacharias?” Alfonse blinked a few times, making sure he was seeing this correctly. But of course, his eyes were not deceiving him. His friend really was there, a bow on his head and a present in his hands.

“Happy birthday, Alfonse,” Zacharias said, placing the present down on the table. When he turned back to Alfonse, he was smiling.

Sharena must have been rubbing off on Alfonse, because his first reaction was to pull Zacharias into a hug. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“And I, you.” Zacharias’s mask was off, for once, and it made his expressions so much easier for Alfonse to understand. He wanted to commit this to memory, the exact way Zacharias looked at him as he said that, the fondness in his voice reflected in his eyes.

Now Alfonse knew what Sharena meant when she said he would like his gift, because this was perfect.

The two of them stood there like that until Anna cleared her throat and they broke apart, Alfonse’s face flushed like he was caught doing something indecent. “I hate to break up this reunion, but this is still a party. You have gifts to open and a cake to eat, Prince Alfonse.”

Zacharias chuckled, reaching out to grab Alfonse’s hand and squeeze it, a gesture that Alfonse found comfort in. “That’s true. We can catch up later. I plan to be here for the night, after all.”

Alfonse’s throat felt dry. “But… the curse?”

Kiran’s grin widened, though Alfonse hadn’t expected that to be possible. “Don’t worry, I came up with… well, not a permanent solution, but a temporary one? For right now!”

Tomorrow, Alfonse would ask Kiran about this more. But right now, he was willing to just accept that his friend, who he loved dearly, was here with him to celebrate his birthday. He was surrounded by people who cared about him, and he could say easily that this was the best birthday he’d ever had.

**Author's Note:**

> title from "happy birthday" by tiny moving parts. does it have anything to do w/ the fic aside from the song title? nope. but i was in a rush to name this and get it posted before the date changed for me so O Well
> 
> as always, [lineraway](https://twitter.com/lineraway) on twitter, [zenithgays](https://zenithgays.tumblr.com/) on tumblr where i take requests for certain definitions of "take" and "requests"


End file.
